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The method of Socrates is hesitating and tentative, awaiting the

fuller explanation of the idea of good, and of the nature of

dialectic in the seventh book. The imperfect intelligence of

Glaucon, and the reluctance of Socrates to make a beginning, mark

the difficulty of the subject.

The allusion to Theages' bridle, and to the internal oracle, or

demonic sign, of Socrates, which here, as always in Plato, is

only prohibitory; the remark that the salvation of any remnant of

good in the present evil state of the world is due to God only;

the reference to a future state of existence, which is unknown to

Glaucon in the tenth book, and in which the discussions of

Socrates and his disciples would be resumed; the surprise in the

answers; the fanciful irony of Socrates, where he pretends that

he can only describe the strange position of the philosopher in a

figure of speech; the original observation that the Sophists,

after all, are only the representatives and not the leaders of

public opinion; the picture of the philosopher standing aside in

the shower of sleet under a wall; the figure of 'the great beast'

followed by the expression of good-will towards the common people

who would not have rejected the philosopher if they had known

him; the 'right noble thought' that the highest truths demand the

greatest exactness; the hesitation of Socrates in returning once

more to his well-worn theme of the idea of good; the ludicrous

earnestness of Glaucon; the comparison of philosophy to a

deserted maiden who marries beneath her-are some of the most

interesting characteristics of the sixth book.